(_From the Terre Haute Express._)
Mid soul-stirring music and the joyous shouts from the lips of 4,000 of
his friends and neighbors, men, women and children, Eugene V. Debs,
President of the American Railway Union, was welcomed home last night,
care-worn and weary, from his 18 days’ struggle for victory in the Great
Northern strike:
Mr. Debs marched with the people, refusing to enter the carriage
provided, and in the park near the Terre Haute House he delivered the
following address:
“Gentlemen, my friends and neighbors: From the depths of my heart I
appreciate and thank you for this demonstration of your confidence and
respect. I had not the remotest idea that on my return to my native city
such a magnificent demonstration awaited me.
“As a rose-bud yields to the tender influences of a May shower, just so
does my heart open to receive the expressions of gratitude and esteem
from you, my friends and neighbors. I have, as you are aware, just
returned from the Northwest, the scene of trouble on one of the greatest
railroad systems in the country. The contest on the Great Northern
system has no parallel in the history of railroad trouble. From the hour
the strike commenced the men were united; they stood shoulder to
shoulder—engineers, firemen, brakemen, conductors, switchmen, and even
the trackmen and freight handlers, who are generally first to suffer,
stood up as one man and asserted their manhood.
“One of the remarkable features, very remarkable, in the contest, was
the good feeling which prevailed during the 18 days of the strike, and
the good feeling lasted during the trying and anxious hours of
arbitration. I am glad, my friends, to be able to say to you tonight,
that in all those 18 days there was, from one end of the Great Northern
road to the other, not a single drop of human blood spilled. The
American spirit of fair play was uppermost in the minds of the manly men
who were involved in the trouble, and their fight for wages was
conducted without rowdyism or lawlessness. The reduction on the Great
Northern Railway was without cause. In resisting it, the employes met
solidly organized capital face to face, and man to man, and for 18 days
not a pound of freight was moved and not a wheel turned, with the
exception of mail trains. As a result of this unification, this show of
manliness and courage on the part of the employes, they gained 97½ per
cent of what they claimed as their rights. The arbitration of the
differences was entrusted into the hands of 14 representative business
men of the Twin Cities, with Chas. Pillsbury, the merchant miller
prince, as chairman. The preliminaries leading up to that memorable
meeting of arbitration covered many weary hours, but once in session and
facing the great question of wages of thousands of men, these 14 men,
all of whom were men of capital and employers of labor, reached a
verdict in one hour, a verdict for the employes, by which $146,000 more
money will monthly be distributed among the deserving wage-earners than
would have been had they not stood up for what they knew to be justly
theirs.
“My glory, my friends, consists in the gladness which I know will be
brought into the little cottage homes of the humble trackmen among the
hills in the West. I can almost see the looks of gratitude on the faces
of these men’s wives and little children. In all my life I have never
felt so highly honored as I did when leaving St. Paul on my way home. As
our train pulled out of the yards the tokens of esteem, which I prize
far more highly than all others, was in seeing the old trackmen, men
whose frames were bent with years of grinding toil, who receive the
pittance of from 80 cents to $1 a day, leaning on their shovels and
lifting their hats to me in appreciation of my humble assistance in a
cause which they believed had resulted in a betterment of their
miserable existence.
“The American Railway Union does not believe in force except in the
matter of education. It believes that when agreements and schedules are
signed there should be harmony between all. It believes and will work to
the end of bringing the employer and employe in closer touch. An era of
closer relationship between capital and labor, I believe, is dawning,
one which I feel will place organized labor on a higher standard. When
employer and employed can thoroughly respect each other, I believe, will
strikes be a thing of the past. For as Mr. Hill, President of the Great
Northern, said to me at the conclusion of the arbitration conference,
‘You have fought a good fight and I respect you,’ and I answered, ‘Mr.
Hill, if this shall be your policy I will give you my word of honor that
in future your road will be engaged in no more such trouble as has just
terminated.’ This strike is not without its fruit and will result in
much good all along the line. I hope to see the time when there will be
mutual justice between employer and employes. It is said the chasm
between capital and labor is widening, but I do not believe it. If
anything, it is narrowing down and I hope to see the day when there will
be none.
“What has occurred tonight seems to me like a dream, a revelation. You
are all too generous, honorable, magnanimous, and my heart rises to my
lips in receiving this demonstration from you, my neighbors, from the
people of my home, where I was born and have grown from childhood to
manhood. A look into the recesses of my heart only can show you the
gratitude I have no words to express. I can only assure you my eternal
friendship and loyalty. With my heart on my lips I thank you, my
friends—honorable men, lovely women, and little children. Had I the
eloquence of an Ingersoll I could not express the happiness, the long
life and success I wish you one and all. Once more, with gratitude
trembling upon my lips, I bid you all good fortune.”